Nuts and Bolts of Transcription
Andreas W. Müller (andreas@muellermixedmethods.com)

Manual Transcription in MAXQDA
To get started with your manual transcription in MAXQDA, you must first import theaudio or video file into your project. To do this, simply drag the file into MAXQDA’s“Document System” window with your mouse. Alternatively, go to the Import menu
tab and click on the Audio or Videos icon.
When importing a recording, an empty text document is created in the "Document
System", to which the audio or video file is assigned and in which you can write thetranscript. In the "Document System", you can recognize text documents with anassociated media file by a play icon that is displayed next to their name:

Activating Transcription Mode
To start transcription, right-click on a document name and select the option
Transcribe Audio File > Transcribe Manually or Transcribe Video File > Transcribe
Manually.

Start manual transcription by right-clicking a document
This activates MAXQDA’s Transcription Mode, in which the windows you need fortranscription are optimally arranged:•The "Multimedia Browser" is displayed and placed at the top of the screen.

•The "Document Browser" is displayed directly below – here you can write
your transcript.

•A dialog window is displayed to the left of the "Multimedia Browser" where
you can adjust all your settings for the transcription.

Starting the transcription process
Now you can play the recording and start writing. To play and pause,•press F4 or F5,•or press Ctrl (Windows) or Shift ⇧ (macOS) twice in succession (this way
you don't have to move your fingers very far).

To quickly navigate to a certain spot in your media file, use the slide control in the“Multimedia Browser” window or use the keyboard combination F12 and ⇧+F12 to
forward or rewind 5 seconds.
The transcript and the recording are linked to each other using time stamps
Automatic speaker change
When transcribing a recording with two speakers, you can switch on the automatic
speaker change in the Transcription Settings. As a result, each new paragraphbegins automatically with a freely definable name, pseudonym, or abbreviation.
Follow these steps:

1. Select the option Automatic speaker change in the Transcription Settings
dialog window.
2. Enter names for each speaker. It's a good idea to add a space at the end too.
3. Select the Bold option if you want the speaker names to be emphasized.

Automatic Transcription
To use MAXQDA’s automatic transcription service, you must have a MAXQDA
license that includes the AI Assist add-on, a MAXQDA account, and an allocatedquota of transcription time.
1. Get AI Assist
If you have a MAXQDA 24 license with AI Assist Free or Premium included, you canskip this step. (Within MAXQDA, you can check if you have access to AI Assist:right-click on a document in the Document System or a code in the Code System - ifthere is an option AI Assist, you have access.)
If you have a MAXQDA 24 license without AI Assist, log into your Subscription
Manager to purchase AI Assist Premium and add it to your MAXQDA license.
Alternatively, you can go to this webpage to add the free version of AI Assist to yourlicense, because for transcription, you don't need the Premium features of AI Assist.
If you do not have a MAXQDA 24 license yet, you can buy one in the shop. Please
ensure to add the free or premium AI Assist add-on to your shopping cart.
2. Get a MAXQDA AccountCreate a free MAXQDA account on this website if you do not already have one (ifyou created a TeamCloud account in the past, it was automatically converted to aMAXQDA account and you can skip this step).
Tip: Upon creating your MAXQDA account and visiting the transcription webpage,
you will receive a one-time offer of 60 free minutes for transcription, allowing you toextensively test the automatic transcription for your data.
3. Purchase & Redeem Transcription TimeOn this website, you can purchase transcription time. You will then receive a code
via email, which you can use to credit the purchased hours directly to your MAXQDA
account. To do so:
1. Open your project in MAXQDA.

2. Click on Sign in at the top right of the main window to log into yourMAXQDA account.
3. Import an audio or video file that you want to transcribe.
4. Click on Transcribe in the appearing dialog.
5. Click on the Redeem code button at the top right of the transcription dialog.
6. Enter or copy the transcription code and click Redeem code.

Open the automatic transcription dialog to redeem your transcription time.
The time budget for the transcription is now available and you can continue with thetranscription. Steps 3 to 6 are also described in detail below.
You can find more information about purchasing and redeeming transcription time inthe chapter Purchase and Redeeem Transcription Time.
Transcribe automatically within MAXQDA
Note: The maximum size for transcribing media files is 1 GB. If your file exceeds thatlimit, you can save it in a more economical file format or, in case of large video files,
you can extract the audio track for transcription, before importing in MAXQDA.
Step 1: Import Media File

To automatically transcribe an audio or video file, first import it into a MAXQDA
project. This can be done most easily by dragging the file into the "Document
System" in MAXQDA with the mouse. Alternatively, you can use the Import > Audioor Import > Video function from the menu. Detailed information on importing audio
and video files can be found here.
As soon as an audio or video file is imported into a MAXQDA project, the following
selection dialog appears:

Selection dialog after importing a media file
Click the Transcribe button.
Have you already imported your audio or video file into a MAXQDA project? If so,right-click on the document name in the "Document System" and select Transcribe
Audio/Video File > Transcribe Automatically with "MAXQDA Transcription" fromthe context menu.
Step 2: Select Transcription Options
The following dialog will appear, allowing you to configure transcription settings,
purchase time packages and redeem codes for previously acquired time packages:

Settings for automatic transcription
Under the Language option, select the appropriate language of your media file.
Incorrect language selection can lead to inaccurate automatic transcription. Notethat automatic transcription is not feasible for recordings featuring multiple
languages.
In the Add your own vocabulary section, you can enter specific words and phrases
that are unique to your recording but uncommon in general usage. Adding custom
vocabulary improves recognition accuracy for technical terms and guides MAXQDATranscription on how to transcribe them. For even greater precision, you can indicate
the pronunciation of a word or phrase in brackets, for example, "NGO (en.ge.o.)".
•MAXQDA Transcription can handle these file formats: AAC, FLAC, M4A, MP3,MP4, OGG, WAV. Convert your file to one of these formats before importingthem into MAXQDA.

•The media file must be no larger than 1 GB.

•If your file is in an unsupported format or exceeds the size limit, you will see anotification in the dialog, and you cannot start transcription.

Step 3: Start Transcription
Click on the Transcribe button to initiate automatic transcription. A notification at
the bottom right corner of the MAXQDA window will inform you that thetranscription is in progress.
The transcription process takes about one-third of the media file's duration.
Therefore, a one-hour interview will approximately require 20 minutes to transcribe.
You can continue using MAXQDA during transcription, for instance, importing moredata, and even start another transcription if needed. If you have imported multiple
media files at once, the settings dialog will appear for each file.
Step 4: Review the Transcript
Once the transcription of a media file is complete, MAXQDA will notify you, and thetranscript will be automatically saved in the corresponding text document. If the text
document already contains text (for example, because you have started manualtranscription or included notes in the document), a copy of the text document will becreated. For differentiation, MAXQDA adds "(Transcript)" to the name of the copied
text document.
You can close a project during automatic transcription, and the process will continue
in the background. Upon reopening the project, all completed transcripts will be
automatically imported.

Imported transcript in MAXQDA - click on the pencil icon in the top right corner tostart Edit Mode which allows you to edit the automatically created transcript

Useful entries from the MAXQDA manual:https://www.maxqda.com/help-mx24/transcription-audio-video/automatictranscription/transcribe-automatically-within-maxqda
https://www.maxqda.com/help-mx24/transcription-audio-video/transcription-mode

Contact your trainer

Andreas W. Müller (Vienna) andreas@muellermixedmethods.com

 + 43 677 637 566 88